Networking, insights, community at annual NC State Construction Conference

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NC State Construction Conference 2014
Attendees at an earlier State Construction Conference. It will be virtual this year.

 Awards recognize industry contributions and achievements

The 33nd annual North Carolina State Construction Conference attracted more than 1,000 general and sub contractors, engineers, architects, landscape architects and representatives of state agencies.

The March 27 conference at the McImmon Center in Raleigh, presented by the State Construction Office of the NC Department of Administration, allowed attendees the opportunity to gather in-depth understanding of state construction policies and trends. The event also provided extensive networking opportunities, including developing relationships with minority contractors and suppliers.

The Frank B. Turner Award was presented to a career state employee and the State Building Commission awarded its Certificates of Merit to designers and contractors. Given annually since 1983, the Turner Award recognizes a state government employee for dedicated public service and outstanding professional contributions to the built environment. Additionally, the Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses presented six Good Faith Effort Awards.

This year’s Frank B. Turner Award recipient, William N. Stovall, currently serves as the Director of Engineering for the Department of Public Safety (2009 – present). Before that, Stovall served as Deputy Secretary for the Department of Correction (2006 – 2009) and the Director of Engineering for the Department of Correction (1990 – 2006).

Stovall is a native of Granville County and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from NC State University in 1982. Since joining the Department of Correction in 1990, Stovall developed and implemented the Department’s 1,000 cell high-security prototypical building program. This allowed him to deliver six major prison facilities at a substantive cost savings using in-house design and inmate construction services.

The State Building Commission’s Certificates of Merit recipients included:

Excellence in Project Implementation – Heery International (Designer) and Rentenbach Constructors (Contractor) awarded for their work on the Fayetteville State University Science and Technology Building project.

Excellence in Design – Smith Sinnett Architecture (designer) awarded for their work on the Randolph Community College Continuing Education and Industrial Center project.

Excellence in Construction – Bovis Lend Lease (contractor) and Clancy & Theys (contractor) awarded for their work on the UNC Chapel Hill Bell Tower Development project.

Also the Office for Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) presented Good Faith Effort Awards to outstanding HUB leaders.

Winners include: Fayetteville State University – owner/agency, Rentenbach – Construction Industry; RJ Leeper Constructors – Construction Industry; M-R Electric & Security Alarms, Inc. – HUB Firm. These organizations are construction industry professionals who exemplified the spirit of the Good Faith Effort laws through their work with minority, women, and disabled owned businesses.

The outstanding participation numbers that these companies achieved made their status as award winners pretty clear,” said Grover Burthey, construction outreach co-ordinator for the HUB Office. “Good Faith Effort Goals can’t be reached in the eleventh hour. The organizations involved with this FSU project began their process months in advance and it paid-off in the end.”

The award-wining project was the new Science and Technology Building at FSU. The high percentage of HUB business participation was due to the Rentenbach and RJ Leeper team focusing on the following factors: Early notification and outreach; facilitating local relationships; targeted follow-up and teamwork during the prequalification process; individual project assistance; and minority contractor mentoring efforts during the post bid/buyout and construction phases. Specifically during the prequalification phase, the Rentenback and RJ Leeper team worked together to break the trade packages down into smaller units which contributed to a large number of HUB contractors being prequalified at the first-tier level.